Dragonfly Day

It's Dragonfly Day today! 

This is a 1-day international event to raise as much money as possible to help my lovely niece's  charity which she set up before she died.

If you can, please donate a small amount through the pink link below or by clicking on Josie's picture. Every single pound is more than appreciated by these children and their families- 

You won't miss a couple of quid but your donation will help to brighten the life of a child or young person who has been told their cancer is no longer curative.

I think the video above speaks for itself.

This... is for Josie's 21st Birthday....Thank you x

www.justgiving.com/dragonflyday2011

Round the World ONE DAY Dragonfly Challenge

www.justgiving.com

28 days later

Oops where on earth did February go?Maude

I was supposed to tell you about my mad sister jumping off a tower in Thailand, stinky boy turning 18, Pete's new job and my poor old Dad falling down a hole..oh yes, it's been all systems go in this neck of the woods so I better get started really..

First off my Dad fell down a boat hatch whilst staying in Thailand and broke his shoulder, got septicemia, very nearly popped his clogs and is now stranded in England with my mum at my other sister's house in Corbridge, now unable to get home as he can't drive back to France..poor old thing. So we were all very concerned about him.(I reckon hes milking it now he's on the mend but don't tell him I told you so) Hopefully I'll be heading up north to see them soon.

Jac, who lives in Thailand and is terrified of heights, zip-wired off the Pataya Tower on the 26th of Feb to raise money for Josie's charity..She did it on the 3rd anniversary of Josies death (I can't believe it's been 3 years..seems like only a week ago) She impressed us further by doing it in high heels and linen trousers (well if you're gonna go for it, go in style )!! Crazy lady! Oh and she's recently published her book called A Dragonfly Tale which you can now buy on Amazon, ooh err!

George has turned 18 this month now that is scary.Does this mean I can no longer call him stinky 'boy'? is he now stinky 'man' stinky 'person' or stinky 'bloke'?
He has been looking like he's done ten rounds with Tyson this week after having some very painful surgery on his lip. It's been almost year since that awful accident and he still has to have more operations. Do you know that b*%!$?* taxi driver, who changed his plea after 3 court appearances, finally pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and only got 6 points and a £110 fine.
I cannot tell you how angry the parents of the victims were. George has got six stitches in his mouth at the moment to repair his lip where his teeth went through it and tore a chunk out of his chin, his nose was slightly torn away from his face, broken and the septum damaged so badly that cartilage from his ear needs to be used to fix it again...the force of them hitting the taxi which was doing a u-turn made him end up in the foot-well of his friend's car, even though he was wearing a seatbelt. He also got dropped from his beloved rugby team.The fearless Flanker was finding it all too difficult with his ongoing injuries.

The elderly taxi driver is free to take paying passengers again.

So anyway, a calmer, wiser George lives in this house now, and an 18 year old ..18!!(sorry I mustn't keep on about it) and what did he want for his birthday? DRIVING LESSONS
Pass the Valium please...

And then there's Pete. Poor old Pete who's had the weight of the world on his shoulders for far too long.
He got his job, the one he really wanted with Eddie Stobart and it all worked out OK in the end. He's away alot and when I finally settle into this new routine of him being away all week and not eating biscuits for dinner because there's only me at home most of the time, you might find I blog more often and actually get round to replying to more than 3 of my messages.So if you see a large Eddie Stobart truck called 'Jenna-Louise' on the motorways, it happens to be my Pete driving her (probably looking rather pleased with himself)
Apparently Mr.Stobarts lorries get quite a lot of female attention, so I hear from their latest recruit anyway....
There's even a huge fan club (Harry's rabbit is named Eddie after the famous green and white trucks)
As for the rest of us well, I haven't finished my Summerhouse yet..there's still lots to be done. Crikey they take some painting! But, it has had a new slate roof and a black and white floor laid..twice in fact.I'm so glad you approved of my idea of a Summerhouse. Me and The Hound sat in it the other day, me in my socks, sat on the floor drinking tea and Hound in his doggy feet just sitting and looking out the windows.It was just lovely, the sun streaming through and no-one being able to see us. I can't wait for it to all be done and finished properly and for the summer to arrive...Then there's the ducks..those lovely cute,cheeky little ducks who lay one beautiful pale blue egg for me each morning.. Lovely Lily looking like she should have a blue bonnet and pink shawl like Miss Jemima puddle duck... hmmm yes..lovely adorable ducks...

Just look at my blinking lawn!!!!! arggggh! pests!and my flowerbeds!!! (what's left of them) (sorry about the pants phone photos..cameras on the blink)

Before I go and disappear to eat my biscuit selection accompanied by a large mug of tea for dinner, and get back to reading 'The Lovely Bones' I thought I'd better just say...

Katie Noelle...dont worry I read it just how you intended it..yikes, boys hey?!!
Yaz sang 'the only way is up', Siobhan....ahh the 80's!
Thankyou so much Deborah for my sunshine award, how lovely I must pop by and accept it properly x
and lastly MRS WOO (that's my shouty voice) its about time you came and saw me for a cuppa and dont call me Fudgeflaps!!!!! (it's all to do with my surname ladies..nothing else, I promise)

Cheerio for now xxMiss Daisy

The good,The bad and the downright lovely...

Wooooosh..there it goes, that was the year then, all over and done with for another twelve months.Here's to a good,prosperous and healthy 2010..Happy New Year!!
I'm not a great fan of December, I have to admit. I love the build up and the trimmings and excitement, reading everyone else's blogs and living the season through other's eyes but bad things have a tendancy to happen around this time of year for us so I'm not what you would call the life and soul of any party.
When I was younger my Grandparents both died, my Granny 'Mopsey' on Christmas day then several years later, my Grandpa 'Pop' on Boxing day. I always think of how my Dad kept a brave face all over Christmas, we never knew till later. There have been various other things happen in Decembers past which I wont dredge up, but it is a strange month which I tend to go a bit quiet in.
My parents are in Thailand at the moment, celebrating their Christmas and New Year Thai style with my sister and her family. It's a Christmas holiday they cut short back in 2004 that they are now having good and proper.
Yes, that 2004, that Christmas in paradise, that boxing day Tsunami.
I watched a program the other night that showed the full horror of the Tsunami as caught on peoples cameras. I kept thinking about it again and again, seven members of my family would have been there on that very beach on that very same Boxing day but through a strange twist of fate, came home early because of Josie being ill. Their hotel was totally destroyed by the water. It sends a shiver down your spine.So, Christmas for me, and I know it's a bit gloomy, means I tend to be thinking about those people who may be having a tough time or who are remembering loved ones. I really dislike the commercialism of it all and the endless buy, buy, buy adverts on TV.
Onto some cheerier things now, I had some lovely surprisesrecently, really unexpected ones, firstly I won a competition.. one of those easy peasy 'missing word' ones, I entered on a whim late one night.Never in a million years did I think my name would be drawn out of the hat, but low and behold, those lovely people at Cabbages & Roses sent me £50 worth of Burt's Bees goodies the very next day, all beautifully wrapped in C&R paper and smelling coconut-honey-minty gorgeous.. Needless to say I saved it all for opening on Christmas day..Just look at that cute polka dot bag!!! purrrrrrfect for a polka dot nut like me. Then, my lovely facebook buddy Julie in Sweden (swedishhouse blog) sent me the most gorgeous old Swedish toadstool candleholders.. she knew I was down in the dumps after a particularly miserable facebook post and tagged them with my name in a photo saying these are heading your way! Then as if things couldn't be any lovelier, one of my favourite blogging ladies, Steph sent a lovely parcel of vintagey goodies to cheer me up even more. oh I've missed the Russian cocktail sticks out the photo! they're such pretty colours too.

I can't begin to tell you how lovely it is when someone you are yet to meet does something like that. LOVELY it is...just lovely.
I'm still so behind with everything, right now I'm meant to be making some roman blinds for the dining room as they were next on the 'to do' list (which is currently at least four A4 pages long) I have had the white linen fabric for months but seeing as I can't afford the batons to go in them and they would look like big baggy knickers hanging at my window, maybe it's not such a bad thing. I did manage to finish my patchwork cushion at last and after a lot of deliberating backed it with some Cath kidston fabric I found on eBay that normally only comes in oilcloth items..yes Mel, it's Provence rose! well spotted! (the lady who sells it is in Hong Kong, so it must be where the CK things are made) My mum gave me some money for Christmas and told me I would be in trouble if it was spent on bills or food and wanted to see what I bought with it, real proof of pretty stuff..so, after I had hankered after that patchwork throw at the Malvern flea fair back in September..you know,'the one that got away' and I saw these four vintage placemats on Louise Loves, I knew that they would most certainly fill that void. I hand stitched two pairs of the mats together to make them into cushions, just as Louise suggested,backed with some vintage French linen..oooh 1930's prettiness! The colours seem to be very Spring-like and fresh. I wonder what all the fabrics had been before?I suppose the bad thing is that Pete still hasn't got a proper job, the agency work finished and we are quite literally clutching at straws and living off fresh air (and Quality Street sweeties morning,noon and night) but when you find messages like this on the fridge door, it can't be all that bad... can it?I've got a mad busy week next week with horrid prodding biopsy things going on again..yuk (six months comes round too quickly for my liking) and some very much needed extra days at work so I hope you'll forgive my utter rubbishness at message replying yet again x

ps..my front door is painted in OLIVE by Farrow & Ball!! I forgot to reply to you earlier Claire and Kristina..sorry! xx
I always find their colours come out much lighter than on the chart, so it does look very similar to Cooking apple green!

tits up

It's all gone a bit tits up here I'm afraid.

Pete and I went away to Northumberland recently all by ourselves for the first time in 13 years (no stinky boys or creatures) BLISS I tell you... antique fairs, girlie shopping time with my sister,silliness with my mad nieces who really make me laugh, Fantastic fireworks,visits to RE (I LOVE that place and it's just down the road from my sisters house!) walks in the misty woods to visit secret tucked away(immaculate) alloments, too many biscuits and copious amounts of tea..or in Pete's case, pear cider, it was a really lovely five days away..only thing is when we came back to normality we came back with an almighty bump.

Pete has just been made redundant.

Is it me or our life getting a bit like Groundhog day? crikey that film bugs me..watching the same thing happen over and over again. It doesn't seem five minutes since we were worrying about the same thing last year.

Good job we are both optimists and believe in things happening for a reason. Hopefully there is something better out there,waiting to be discovered.

I saw a beautiful rainbow yesterday and it made me think of Josie. I wore my dragonfly bracelet to work so that her wise words were with me all day. Strength, courage and happiness.

It made me think things could be a lot, lot worse.

I made this little flower brooch the other evening too..a bit of whimsy and prettiness in between the ranting and raving and rather blue language beginning with b.

Back soon... hopefully with some jolly stuff! x

mad dogs and Englishmen

Hmmm, maybe that should read 'mad Englishmen and a few dogs'
George and I went down to Newnham on Severn several weekends ago (infact it must be nearly a month ago I wrote this post...crikey!) to watch my mad brother-in -law attempt to ride the Severn Bore for Josies charity. We stayed in my sisters old farmhouse with five insane dogs and 18 other people including my eldest sister and her family from Northumberland and my other sister who lives in Thailand, all to witness the big event. Madness I tell you...but a good sort of madness...

The Severn bore was meant to be the biggest it has been in twenty years.(photos from google)

We could spot Jim quite easily from high up on the river bank amoungst the serious surfers and canoeists in their black wetsuits, after all, it's not often you see a large built man in a Spiderman costume in a bright yellow rubber dingy with his equally well built policeman companion in a Captain America suit.

It was quite strange to see this wave suddenly come rushing the wrong way down the river , turning the flow of the water and making the river rise several metres.Something to do with full moons apparently .
I think the wave forgot it was meant to be the biggest in 20 years.More of a fast flowing 'ripple' if you ask me...


It was mightily entertaining chasing them along the river from pub to pub with the hoards of other people who turned out on a sunny Saturday to witness this strange phenomenon.

Until they disappeared that is.
We waited. And waited.Still no Spidey came past...

A couple of hours later and a few miles down river, two very wet and exhausted superheroes finally appeared to much cheering.


They raised quite a few quid .Over a thousand pounds in the end.

nice 'muscles' spiderman

Spidey told us later that the 'little wave' looked pretty big when it rushes towards you at a speed of 20 knots. Ok we'll believe him. He is, after all a 'superhero'.

Spiderman poses for the bemused kids
(we think he had been eating lots of pies since he made his last movie.)

A Dragonfly tale...

There once was a family of water bugs living happily in a pond.
One day they noticed some other water bugs climb up a lily stem and disappear,never to be seen again.
"where do they go?" asked one of the water bugs,but none of them knew.

The family understood that one day each of them would have to climb up the lily stem and leave the pond,so they made a promise to each other."Whoever leaves first will come back and tell us where they have been" they all promised

A little while later one of the water bugs found himself climbing the lily stem.He didn't want to leave his family but couldnt seem to stop himself.

At the top of the stem he rested for a while and slept.
When he awoke he felt very uncomfortable.Then he had a giant burst of energy and suddenly he broke out of his old skin. Something amazing had happened...

He had become a beautiful Dragonfly with shimmering wings that lifted him up to the sky.
The world was full of bright colours,the air was warm and light and he felt happier than he had ever felt before.
As he danced above the water he looked down and it was then he saw the rest of his water bug family.They looked sad. Then he remembered his promise to go back and tell them what had happened.
He tried to dive into the water but he couldn't. his body had changed and now he just bounced off the water.
Another dragonfly saw him and came over to help.
"Don't worry " she said kindly "they will all be with you one day and will understand everything, just like us"
The dragonfly looked around and smiled at his new friend.
She was right,one day his family would find themselves climbing the lily stem and finding their way to this heavenly place.
Then the two dragonflies laughed and danced in the air for a while before flying off to explore their new world.

THE END

Today it's Josies anniversary, it will be two years today that this beautiful young girl left us after her hard battle with leukaemia.
I'll be wearing my dragonfly bracelet all day...I'm needing a bit of strength ,courage and happiness at the mo (I think we all are!) and those three words are inscribed on the little tag.

I'm thinking of you Jac, over in Thailand and sending you a big kiss xxxx (or four)

Josies dragonfly

Josies la la land

you can now also donate to this registered charity via Mission Fish on eBay

la la land

Isn't it amazing what you can find on Youtube?
This beautiful piece of animation was inspired by an interview with my niece...they are her words but not her voice...I think it's just stunning...

remembering Josie

Today is a sad day.

It will have been one year since my beautiful niece died at the age of 16.

She was a gorgeous girl with the most wonderful soul.The kind of person that touches your heart with their unselfishness and love and an amazing zest for life.

Josie died of leukaemia.

She fought until the end, having had 2 bone marrow transplants, but when there was no treatment left to have and she new she wasn't going to see another year, she decided that instead of spending her last few months in and out of hospitals, she wanted to spend time with her family, giving them happy memories and trying to take their minds off the inevitable. Their minds.

Saying goodbye to this darling girl was the hardest thing Ive ever had to do in my life. I wanted to hug her tiny fragile body so hard that I would absorb her into mine.What do you say when you leave someone knowing that it would be the last time you would see them? what words do you use..take care? see you soon? hope you feel better soon? there is nothing you can say its so hard. Josie would get upset if you cried, she felt bad that she was making people unhappy. Endlessly, she thought of others.

The day she died, strangely my mantlepiece clock stopped at the the exact time of her death.(it took me months to pick up the courage to alter the time) My other sister had a red mark appear on her chest in the most perfect shape of a heart and a few weeks later I had a beautiful dragonfly land on my arm whilst in the garden, totally out of season..I froze before bursting into tears. .

They played puff daddy's 'I'll be missing you' at her funeral and each of us laid a single sunflower by her tiny white woven casket. I didn't think it was possible to cry that much.

Darling Josie, our hearts broke that day but we know you're around trying to help us fix them back together... we miss your funny tales and that beautiful face, but we think of you everyday. xx

Give your son/daughter/ loved one a hug today. A big hug.

Josies charity

Dragonfly song written for josie by Jane armstrong (YouTube);

Josie talking on the BBC News;